


So the night surrendered to the moon

by User435



Series: Ascension of the moon [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Fingerfucking, I'm just gonna add as I go along, Vaginal Fingering, idk blood stuff, mentions of injury, yeah we're getting into more smut territory now
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-03
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-16 09:01:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 16,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29822538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/User435/pseuds/User435
Summary: Part 1; Tales from the patient's bedside.5ABY and after fall of the Empire, the former Jundland witch tends to her patient.
Relationships: Boba Fett/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Ascension of the moon [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2192286
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	1. Endless is the night, but come dawn don’t slip through my fingers like moonlight.

**Author's Note:**

> Sitting, and slowly working in my drafts, I decided to post the first chapter before I began to hate it, (that and I'm actually on top of my work for once, and also this has become my hobby to unwind 😐)   
> I won't be updating as frequently as I did previously- I really want to focus on my writing style and improve (which is good for you guys too!)  
> Aaaaand yeah? I think that's it?  
> Anyway enjoy!

Boba was lost in endless fog.

  
He couldn’t open his eyes. He couldn’t move his limbs. His ears rung.   
Unfamiliar voices were somewhere far away. Drifting in and out and in and out of his ears, he couldn’t grasp what they were saying.   
Conscious but incoherent, his mind swirled endlessly, too disjointed to think logically.   
Where was he?   
Why couldn’t he move?   
What had happened?

Panic flared.   
He had been trapped. Dragged into boiling, stinging pain and unable to stop. He had wanted to, tried to scream, but it had caught in his throat.   
He couldn’t breathe.   
He had writhed, twisted, and turned, trying to escape, trying to get back to the light of the sky above ever growing distant. His chest screaming for air.

He was lying down. He thought. Desperately, he kept trying to move, kept trying to do _anything_. 

Voices drew closer, and his body tensed up, and coiled into itself, heart beating so hard in his chest it was painful.   
He was paralyzed. Defenceless.   
For one of the few times in his life, he was terrified. 

A boy on the side of a battle, he screamed out his father’s name. 

A ghostly presence on his forehead, so small and light it felt like it was barely there.   
Humming, warmth, a familiar tingle.   
His heart slowed, body relaxing under the touch.   
Perhaps it was a dream, perhaps he was dying and whatever higher power had granted him a familiar angel to guide him over to his father.

Numb.   
Numb and warm.   
He surrendered.   
The lights went out. 

* * *

* * *

“How’s the patient holding up?”  
“Comatose.”   
Dengar sighed, arms folded as he leaned against the doorframe, “Look, witch, he’s been like that since we found him. It’s probably best to put him out of his misery.”   
Sana snapped her head to face the bounty hunter, “He’s still in the early stages of his recovery. There’s hope yet.”   
“Misplaced hope.” he muttered, clearing his throat under her glare, “If I know anything about Boba, he wouldn’t want to live if he wasn’t as able before the Sarlacc.”   
“Well, thankfully for him, I am here. And he is recovering.”   
“Whatever.” he pushed himself off the doorframe, and waved back as he walked away, “My guess is, the scars aren’t gonna be the only nasty surprise if he wakes up.”   
  


* * *

It had taken her eight rotations to find Boba when she had arrived back on Tatooine.

Arriving in Mos Eisley spaceport, she bid Anya farewell. Her sister had pressed a holoprojector into her hand, and kissed her on her forehead, “ _beh-hahts-lah-khah_ Sana.”   
Sana had returned her sister’s forehead kiss, and clutching her small backpack straps, headed into the endless desert that had once been close to home. 

Her old trading partners, the Sand People of the West, knew little of the situation. When she explained that she was looking for someone that had fallen into the Great pit of Carkoon, they had simply told her that they would be dead. Seeing how her body deflated, they reluctantly had given her their condolences, and offered to take her to the pit.  
Her eyes had stung, staring through her wraps into the burning orange flames, as she chewed on her cheek.   
She accepted.

The pit was surrounded by shrapnel and ship scrap, deemed invaluable by the opportunistic Jawas.   
Her body wobbled on top of the Bantha as it lowered to the ground, allowing her to slide off. She had run straight to the edge of the pit, looking down into the Sarlacc’s greedy mouth and screamed his name.   
She could feel the Sand People watch her back. She ignored their seeping judgement, or pity.   
The Sarlacc squealed, and flopped its head from side to slide, tentacles reaching up to try and grab her, but she was too far up.   
But something wasn’t right.   
The Sarlacc was… lethargic.   
If it had only recently started its digestion of Boba, among others, it shouldn’t have been that lethargic.   
And then she saw it.   
Burn marks. Deep, and weeping from the Sarlacc’s tentacles. And fresh.   
She knew he was still alive.   
She just needed to find out where he was. 

But Tatooine was endless, vast, and empty.   
Walking away from the pit, she decided that she would endure.   
And then, an idea crept into her mind. 

Within the small tent that the Sand People had provided her, Sana had spent her nights, skimming her recovered journals by candlelight. Her fingers dragging over the ancient scripture, and diagrams.   
She finally found the spell, tapping her fingertips over the page as her heart swelled.   
It was going to be alright.

Bidding farewell to the Sand People, she thanked them for their endless hospitality, and wandered under the starry velvet sky, until she came to the canyons. 

Her body had ached, screamed at her from exhaustion as she climbed up.   
But Sana simply bit down, and kept going. 

Finally reaching her elevated perch, she scanned around, seeing the endless horizon on all sides. Satisfied, she sat down, folding her legs in front of her as she pulled out a knife. 

Pulling off her gloves, she took a deep inhale.   
Hot stinging blood swelled from her palms, and she grunted, continuing to carve deeply into the existing rune as she incanted.   
“ _Oh great power,_ _  
_ _Grant me your eyes,_ _  
_ _Your wings,_ _  
_ _Let me see all that surrounds me,_ _  
_ _Let me find that which I seek.’  
_ She closed her eyes, placing the backs of her heads over them so her bloodied palms faced out to the desert.   
“ _Hear me, your Lahirean child.”_

Images rushed into head, enough to make her whole body shake from the pressure of it. Thousands, million, billions. Every cell, every particle of sand, every molecule of life and force of nature granted by her great power flowed in, through and out of her.

And then she saw him,  
Bandaged. Body covered. In so much pain.   
But alive. 

She panted, lying against the dusty rock floor. Head spinning, and ringing, and pounding. Hands slick with blood. Half lidded eyes welling with tears of exhaustion.   
A wide smile on her lips. 

The three day trek across the desert was excruciating. Sun sweltering down on her. Sweat prickling and running down her back. Throat hoarse from the dry, hot air.

But she had endured.   
She held her arms up above her head as she approached the dilapidated settlement.   
A familiar face greeted her, blaster cocked, and at the ready.   
“Who are you?”   
“An old friend.”   
“What brings you here?”   
“You have a patient that I wish to see.”   
“Who told you?”   
“The Great Power.”   
“Cassandra? Kriff, is that you?” a familiar female Aruzan appeared behind Dengar.   
Sana nodded, pulling down her coverings. Manaroo patted Dengar’s shoulder, and he lowered the blaster.   
“Guess you better come in then, witch.”   
  


Sana didn’t properly rest for several days. She had dedicated her time awake to slowly repairing Boba, rinsing and bathing the acidic burns that covered his body in Bantha milk, and using her abilities to attend to the below the skin damage; repairing the tissue and nerves of his eyes, ears, and nose, resetting the bent and dented bones of his ribcage, arms and legs, as well as the torn tendons, ligaments and muscles, and slowly repairing the damage his brain had withstood from a combination of oxygen deprivation and over dosages of adrenaline.   
It had been painful pulling him back together. 

More so when he still hadn’t woken. 

  
  


* * *

She slumped back against the chair, sliding down and looking up to the dusty ceiling, as she yawned.   
The holoprojector pinged, and Sana switched it on, seeing a small, blue and flickering Anya smile up at her,   
“ _How’s the patient doing?_ ”   
“ _Still comatose, but dreaming like someone who had too much blue cheese before bed._ ”   
“ _That’s good though, right?_ ”   
Sana nodded, “ _Means he’s not braindead._ ”   
“ _Think he’s gonna wake up?_ ”   
“ _Definitely,_ ” she reached over to brush her knuckles over the bandaged hand, _“I’m the attending healer after all._ ”   
“ _Well look at you miss humble, wouldn’t Madame Antoinette be glad to see the Lahirean principles are still drilled into you?_ ”   
She rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue, “ _Like you’re one to talk._ ”   
“ _Yeah with my tastes, I was doomed from the start._ ” Anya snorted,   
“ _Don’t say that,_ ” Sana sighed, grimacing, before clearing her throat, “ _How’s Naberri?_ ”   
“ _She’s overseeing a journey to Naboo. Then we’re taking the weekend off._ ”   
“ _You being careful?_ ”   
“ _Please,_ ” she huffed, dismissing Sana’s question with a wave of her hand, “ _It’s not like I’m at risk of getting pregnant. And besides, you ran our medical exams, so you know all’s safe. You worry too much._ ”   
“ _Sadly, I’m always gonna worry about you, deary._ ” Sana smiled, and Anya raised an eyebrow, “ _So who gets to worry about you?_ ”   
“ _Myself._ ” she stated, “ _I’ll leave you to enjoy your weekend, alright? Have fun._ ”   
“ _Thanks. I hope your beloved is okay. And Sana?_ ”   
“ _Yeah?_ ”   
“ _Take a bath, and have a rest, you look like shit_.”

The blue flickering shut off, and Sana sighed, knowing Anya was right.   
Taking a few minutes to work up the energy to get onto her feet, she finally, with a reluctant and aching push, got up and managed to stumble on stiff legs to the door, “Manaroo? Can you watch over him while I have a shower?”   
“Of course,” she smiled, walking over to pat her on the shoulder, “take all the time you need.”   
Sana mumbled her thanks, patting the hand on her shoulder before staggering to the refresher and stripping off her layers. She toyed with the necklace between her fingers, before reluctantly removing it.   
The jet of water that hit her was nearly euphoric. Her body loosened, and she suddenly felt how grimy her skin was. Sana scrubbed her body raw, using two rounds of soap, and massaged her greasy scalp clean until it tingled.   
She sighed, taking a moment to savour the cleansing water, before turning off the faucet and stepping out. Her body shivered as she patted herself dry, and a wave of tiredness slowly settled over her brain as she washed her teeth and face.   
She couldn’t wait to go to sleep.   
Returning the necklace over her heart, she pulled on her nightshirt and pants, slipping on thick socks, before cleaning up the refresher and returning to the small room.   
Manaroo raised her eyebrows, “Better?”   
“Lots, thank you.”   
“Get some rest, I’ll keep watch okay?”   
Sana nodded, and crawled into the small bed set up across from his, pulling the covers tightly around her, and clutching the necklace in her hands as she drifted into the deep realm of unconsciousness.   
Hoping that perhaps, she would meet him there. 

* * *

* * *

His body was so heavy. He couldn’t open his eyes.   
But he was breathing.   
He knew that much.   
He tried to draw a command from his body, move his finger, or foot, but he was seized up. Body stiff and ringing with a lingering ghost of pain, like everything had been torn apart and stitched back together. 

The lack of command over his body terrified him.   
A man who had made a living through his physical strength, he lost one of his biggest assets. 

His chest heaved, unable to breathe.   
Someone was shushing him, foreign and unfamiliar.   
Exposed, vulnerable, unable to defend himself. 

Danger. Dangerdangerdanger- 

_“Ahuv, shhhh ahuv shhhhhh it’s alright shhhhh you’re safe shhhhhh it’s alright ahuv shhhh. Rest for me._ ”

  
Her voice broke through the fog. The painful tension that seized his body slowly easing under the weight of her hands. He was drifting again, not quite lucid and not quite dreaming. Lost somewhere in between with his eyes weld shut.   
‘Shit, I must have died.’ he thought, surrendering to her once again.

* * *

  
Despite his hopes on Bespin, he knew that she wouldn’t stay with him.   
Seraphine had been right in the end.   
But he wanted to at least say goodbye properly that time.   
Lying on, in and over her, he had committed each mark, each curve or slope of her body to memory, the weight of her hands running through his hair, how her nose pressed against his. 

He gave her the belongings that he had salvaged, the necklace crafted on sleepless nights sandwiched between journals, noticing how her hands lingered over his.   
It made sense for him then, that he had to be the stronger one in that moment. Calm, and firm, squashing anything he felt to ensure she would leave to take care of Anya.   
A child in a rebellion needed her more than he did anyway.   
At least that’s what he kept repeating to himself. 

He saw her off of Tatooine, disappearing into the vast galaxy once again, and returned to the life he always knew.   
Cold, brutal and heartless.   
Astrid had rubbed at her eyes, sniffing and exhaling slowly after he told her what had happened, before biting down on her lip, “It’s good that she’s still alive.”   
And they parted, uneasy alliance, if you could call it that, dissipating then and there.   
Boba returned to his work with a new commitment, the only constant in his life no matter how much it chopped and changed or shrunk around him under some mysterious power.   
Celibacy didn’t stick, he would eventually burst and just remove his codpiece to ease the frustrations he had bottled up.   
Yet he felt grimy afterwards, uneasy guilt settling like he had just cheated.   
It was a vicious cycle.   
But no one could see it behind the visor.

Sometimes he wondered if he was even human. The realisation that he led a life close to that of a Jedi had left a bitter taste in his mouth. Independent, no commitments, just his job and the growing despondency as he stared at the swirling blue lights of jumpspace.   
The memory of reaching back to rest his hand on her thigh, how she traced and caressed his hand, sometimes bringing it up to her soft lips to brush against his knuckles, haunting him each time he sat in the cockpit.   
  


He had been wasted that day.   
Barely holding himself together to keep his immovable posture as his head span from a mixture of spice and fire whiskey.   
The shouts of a Jedi, he thought, had sobered him up.   
It was embarrassing to fail by the hands of a blind buffoon. More so that it was Han Solo. But the promise of death made it not so bad.   
He briefly entertained succumbing to the belly of the Sarlacc. Giving in and giving up. 

  
_A swirling canvas was stretched out in front of them. Brilliant strains of purples, oranges, blues and reds all blending and fading into each other._ _They sat in silence, warm despite the coldness of space, and comfortable despite the surroundings of steel and metal. She brought his hands up to her lips, kissing his fingers, “The best surprise. Thank you.”  
_ _He kissed the top of her head, pulling her impossibly closer to him.  
_ _Sitting on the floor of Slave-1 watching the nebula with her wrapped up in his arms, he imagined a much more simpler life. One that he had only seen in passing, but previously ignored. His fate had been chosen for him before he was born._ _  
_ _‘You are Boba Fett, you are my son. You are Jaster’s legacy.’  
_ _Yet, here, holding her close enough to feel like she was simply another part of him, an extension of his own body, he wondered if such a life was possible between someone who took lives for a living and someone who nurtured and brought them back._ _  
_ _And then she mumbled something he couldn’t understand, yet completely understood all at once._ _  
_ _And suddenly, he wanted to at least give it a fighting try._

 _  
_ In the belly of the beast, his silent screams of pain as his body was torn apart and burned went unheard.   
He realised that he couldn’t die like this.   
He would see her again. 

And then, he opened his eyes. 


	2. To lie under a sky of blood reds and pale blues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Boba awakens, but an immeasurable distance is stretched between the former lovers. Their obstacle? Themselves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mid-term exams; done.   
> Applications; not submitted but clarified.   
> Grammar check; in-place  
> Hell-yeah baby.   
> Enjoy.

_“Cassaya! Stop crying, please, please.”  
Seryozha had her pulled into his shoulder, sitting behind their abba in the speeder approaching the checkpoint. Abba turned back to them both, “My little Cassaya, I need you to be a brave for me and stop crying okay?”  
Sana was shaking her head, blocking her ears, trying to stop the endless stream of voices and vibrations going through her head, splitting it into two. They were getting closer to the checkpoint. Seryozha’s chest was heaving, and he pushed her away,  
“Sergei!”  
Sana collided with the forest floor, face slamming into the ground. Pain erupted in her mouth, wet and hot. She was gasping, trying to pull in air to her constricting chest.   
An Imperial trooper pulled her up, and threw her back into the speeder, “Get a hold on your kids, Lithé, or we won’t be so nice next time.”  
He waved at the checkpoint administrator, “Girl needs medical attention. Let them through!”  
_ _She was struggling to breathe. Moaning, and groaning. Snuffling and choking on a mixture of snot and blood, her teeth dangling in her mouth._

  
“Sana?”

  
_Sana tossed and turned, holding her hands around her face, it hurt so much. She was begging her abba to help, over and over again, eyes squeezed shut, stinging with hot, fat, tears._  
  
“Sana?” Manaroo shook her shoulder, jostling out of the hell of her memories, “Sana, something’s wrong, I think -”  
Sana’s eyes barely opened, throwing off her blanket and stumbling out of her bed with such unsteady force that Manaroo had to grab her before she collided to the floor. Mouth tingling and blood rushing in her gums, Sana wiped her away near-dry tears, mumbling a quick ‘thanks’ before leaning over the heavily bandaged Boba, hands resting either side of his head.   
Dark eyes, droopy with swollen eyelids, and crusted with sleep dust, stared up at her.   
Pain, fear, and relief cut through the fog of her mind.   
He was awake.

* * *

“Well shit, the dead man walks.” Dengar grinned from the doorway, before tilting his head to the side, “Well, not quite.”  
Sitting up and leaning against pillows, Boba stayed silent, glaring behind his wall of bandages. Dengar snickered, “It’s good to see you as intimidating as ever, Boss.”  
Sana tilted her head towards him, frowning quizzically, and Dengar elaborated, “I was in Boba’s Krayt’s Claw syndicate back in the day. How ya feelin’?”  
He opened his mouth, throat cracked and one fire from just the intake of air, but he could only manage a painful croak. He tried to swallow past the pain, gaining no relief as he tried again, producing a choked gasp. Sana reached out with her hand, placing the palm flat against the bandage, mumbling something, “...Wait a second.”  
She left, returning moments later, hands wet and carrying a bowl of water. Returning to her seat beside his bed, and she placed her hands just over the surface of the water, eyes closed as she muttered something no one could understand. The tell-tale fluttering of her eyelids shook through his body like deja vu, entrancing him, before she lifted the bowl to his chapped lips, tilting it forward so he could drink. Boba sipped the water greedily, the tingling cool feeling heaven sent on his burning throat,   
He licked his lips, taking a deep breath to try again. Dengar watched, eyebrows raised,   
“Take your time, Boss.”  
“Ffff” he took sharp inhale, throat still tender as the enchanted water slowly worked its magic, “fuck off.”  
Dengar cackled, “There’s the Boba I know. Cassandra, d’you know he was a little thing, maybe yay’ big” Dengar held a hand up halfway his height, “And all skin and bones, when I met him, had this smart mouth to try an’ make up for it. Fucking infuriating. Thought to myself, shit this can’t be _the_ Jango Fett’s little bastard, but there’s no denying the resemblance.”   
Sana’s face seemed to soften from the familiar tone that Dengar spoke with, and Boba’s fingers twitched, heartbeat roaring in his ears, focusing on Dengar’s smirk.   
Dengar was luring them in, trapping them, acting.

_dangerdangerdangerdangerdangerdangerdangerdanger_

_  
_“Isn’t that right, Boss man?”  
Dengar’s question pulled him back to reality. He blinked a few times, trying to regain control.   
“Boba? Are you alright?” Sana hand came to rest over his, eyes wide and worried.   
Boba stared at the bandages under palm, involuntarily flinching away from her. 

The pain that flickered across her eyes made him want to dive back into the Sarlacc all over again.

He could see her start to chew on her inner cheek, and she pulled her hands back to his lap eyes moving down away from his, “I think it’s best if we leave him rest a little longer before we start teasing.”  
Dengar let out a huff of laughter, “What was the point of the month-long coma then?”   
Sana went over and shooed him out, moving to leave with him and pull the door shut behind her.

“Stay.”

She was chewing on her cheek again, and Boba felt his breath hold in his chest as the air hung still. Shakily exhaling, she nodded, and sat back down beside the bed, “Do you need anything?”

Boba studied her past the slight blur in his eyes. Purpling dark circles cupped both her eyes, her lips were chapped, cheeks nearly sunken. He saw the bloodshot eyeballs, and grey tinge to her skin. She was exhausted. He wanted to reach out, pull her to his chest and stroke her head, kiss the scars on her cheek, and palm. Soothe away all the worries that kept her from sleeping. But then he opened his mouth,

“Why are you here?”

He internally screamed, his body and mind were not syncing up. The abrupt hiss that had left him was not what he wanted her to hear. Her throat bobbed, and she let out a strangled, humourless laugh, “Thought you might have wanted some medical attention.”

He should say he’s sorry. He knew that. He opened his mouth, “My armour.”

Boba suddenly wanted to be back in his coma. Restart the whole day again. Sana frowned, sighing, “Boba you’re barely awake yet. You can get it when you’ve healed.”

“Sana- “

“Rest.” She pushed herself up again, exhales shaky and inhales sharp as her throat bobbed. Boba willed his hand to reach out and grab her to no avail, his body was separated from his mind. Sana trudged out of the room, pulling the door shut behind her. But even the heavy wood between them couldn’t muffle her tears.

Boba felt his breathing pick up again.   
He was staring at his hand, resting limply by his side. Why wouldn’t it move? He had felt her hand over it earlier, it was still a part of him, so why wouldn’t it just fucking move?

He needed to be out of this bed, he needed to have command over his distant limbs. He needed to protect her. Get her somewhere safe, get them out of there before-

Dengar opened the door, strolling nonchalantly over to the chair she had previously occupied, “Don’t mind me, just got to keep an eye on ya while the witch sleeps.”

Boba swallowed, he thought he could feel his nostrils flare with each inhale, as he glared. The contortion tugging painfully at his covered face. Dengar had his arms crossed, leaning idly back in the chair and feet resting up on the edge of the mattress, “I don’t like it anymore than you do, Boss but I’d be stupid to disobey a witch.”  
“What’s your play?”  
“What?”  
“Get me while I’m sleeping? Take the witch out too. Two for the price of one.”  
“Perhaps just this once, Boba, I’m not out to kill anyone. Have I ever been this fucking sly before? No. If I wanted to kill you, trust me I would’ve put you out of your misery long ago.”   
Boba continued his glare, Dengar shifted in his chair, feet moving off the bed and opening his arms up in a shrug, “Gods, fine I’ll admit, last time I saw you in the Valley of the Winds, I wanted to kill you. Thought about it the entire time, well, nearly. But after some thought, I realised you gave me the best chance to survive, anyone else would’ve stripped me bare to the winds. So, it’s all in the past, and any homicidal feelings I harboured are mostly simmered down.”  
“Mostly?”  
Dengar smirked, “Would we even be friends if there wasn’t an urge to kill the other?”  
“I suppose not.” Boba sighed, still wary, “Fill me in on everything after the Sarlacc.”  
“You have strict instructions to rest.”  
“Tell me.”  
“Well,” Dengar scratched his head, “from what I can gather, the Jedi guy and Solo blew up the cruiser, and the whole gang of them escaped. With Jabba dead, the palace turned into a bloodbath, and still is, I think. No one knows who to obey, or what to do. A bunch of slaves, including Manaroo escaped, and that’s how I got out of the Valley. And that’s all I know.”  
“Bib Fortuna?”  
“Alive, and most likely to succeed to the throne, Manaroo thinks.”   
“Anyone know that the witch is here?”  
Dengar shrugged, “Who knows, she just turned up here saying some ‘Great Power’ guided her to you. Didn’t know you guys were that close.”  
Boba ignored him, “With Fortuna succeeding to Jabba’s throne, she’s in the most danger here. Fortuna wouldn’t hesitate to turn her in as a rebel collaborator to the Emp-”  
“Oh, and the Empire’s collapsed.”  
“What?”  
“Yeah, that Jedi guy and his gang, blew up the new Death Star, and killed Vader and the Emperor. So, the witch is safe from them, at least.”  
Boba sighed, “It’s one less thing to consider. My armour?”  
“You didn’t have it on when we found you. You were just about in your flight suit, but the place had been picked clean by Jawas. My guess, those little fuckers must have it.”  
Boba stared at him, stomach dropping. He blinked a few times.

“Look, Boba, I’m sorry, I know-“

“I need to find it.”

“Don’t know how to tell you this Boss, but you not exactly in good shape right now.”

Boba shook his head, swallowing hard, “I have no choice, I need to find it. My ship might be able to track it, there should be a tracer beacon in the vambrace if the Sarlacc acid didn’t damage it too much. We need to-”

“Slow down a second. You just dodged death. And as happy as I’d be to wave your sorry ass out of here to spend some time with my fiancée, even I got to admit your in no state to go anywhere.”

Boba opened his mouth to argue, but Dengar shook his head, “Nope. The witch, Manaroo and I make three against one, and you can’t fight that. Rest, and come up with a fucking apology for your poor girlfriend.”

* * *

  
Sana stifled her groan as she slumped back in the chair, her lower back stiff and aching as she stared at the ceiling, the evening growing heavier. Boba breathed shakily on the bed, chest rising and falling weakly. She had tried to sleep to no avail. Unable to rest with him so tantalizingly close, and yet so far at the same time.   
Sitting alone in the dark room, the warm light of the kitchen slipping through the cracks with the warmth of Dengar and Manaroo’s chatting and laughing, the man she loved more distant from her than when he had been presumed dead, the wave hit her.   
Sana clamped her hands over her mouth to smother her choking sobs.   
Her head pulsed, and hot tears ran freely no matter how hard she tried to control it. She was drained, physically and emotionally spent. A month of repressing everything she felt hit her all at once, and she was powerless against it.

She let one hand slide down, pushing the necklace into her sternum to try and trick herself that the carved wood was the thing that was causing the pain that seized her entire chest. Holding her captive, and making her vision blur white.   
Deep breath in, deep breathe out.   
She tried to focus on the painful and shaking expansion and contraction of her ribcage, trying to push past the rushing blood in her ears, and focus on his breathing-  
“San?”  
Sana nearly jumped, Boba’s head was turned to her, eyes not visibly in the dark. She wiped away her tears, “Can I get you anything?”  
“You’re crying.”  
She swallowed, her own hoarse voice matching his whispered rasp, “Boba, is there anything I can get you?”  
A heavy silenced past, filled with shaky breaths and thousands of words painfully wanting to push past closed lips.   
“No. You rest.”  
“I’m not tired.”  
“I’m too fucking tired for you to be lying to me.”  
Sana huffed, pushing her back up against the chair and crossing her arms, “How can you te-“  
“Sana,” his voice cut across her in the dark, before growing tearjerkingly soft, “what I need from you is that you rest. Can you do that for me?”  
Her heart jumped a little, heat she hadn’t noticed the absence of crept back into her chest from his gentle tone. Her bottom lip wobbled, “Alright.”

Silently, she climbed back into her bed. Laying on her side but turned to face him in the dark, hands enclosed around the pendant.   
The distance stretched between cutting into their hearts. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, and thank you for the support so far!!!


	3. I drink up the warmth of the sun in your form

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Consolidation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really hitting with the poetic titles recently.

Sana had been avoiding him all day it seemed.   
She flitted in and out, checking up and medicating him. He would catch her looking into his eyes sometimes, hand resting over her sternum, but she would look away whenever he would meet her gaze.   
He desperately wanted to pull that hand towards him.  
Boba sat up in his bed, trying to will his hands to move. His fingers twitched.   
He took a deep breath, and repeated. Dengar snored loudly in the chair beside him. Boba tried to will his foot to move and kick him awake, but to no avail.   
Breathing in and holding his frustrations, Boba focused the energy on getting at least his hand to move.   
Straining his ears passed the muffling bandages, and Dengar’s snores to listen to Lahir’ being spoken beyond the door.   
Keeping his objective in mind.

* * *

“ _I knew you were a talented healer, Sana but damn.”  
“Ye of little faith.” _Sana yawned. Anya snorted a little before her face dropped, _“So if he’s awake why do you look so depressed?”  
_ She hesitated, scratching behind her ear, and not making eye contact as she mumbled, _“Things aren’t as simple as I wanted them to be.”  
“So you’re telling me you avoided even looking at other men for two whole years, and never took off that necklace for this?” _Hip jutted out, and arms crossed, Anya was in her confrontational posture. Sana tried to reel it back in, sensing her sister’s frustration over the holo, _“That’s not tr-“  
“Oh please, we shared a room, you can’t hide that sort of thing.”  
“Well, Anya I came to heal him, not marry him.”   
“Wait, I thought the necklace was an engagement thing?”  
“Anya-“  
“If this guy is just messing around with you Sana-“  
“Enough! Too much and too loud.” _Sana groaned. _  
“Sana, you really gotta stop being too patient with people. Myself included. You can’t look after everyone.”  
“Well, fate has given me no choice in that matter.”  
“I’m serious. You need to start prioritising your own welfare, fate or not.”  
“I’ll keep that in mind. Take care, Anya.”  
“Take care, Sana.”_

Sana stretched her arms up, spine popping and easing with the movement. Her body instantly slumping back into the bench. Her body was still catching up on the rest it craved, and the pounding in her head was the price she had to pay for neglecting her health.   
Puffing up her cheeks, and slowly exhaling, Sana pushed herself off the bench and pressed her hands into her lower back as she walked out to greet the setting suns.   
She had forgotten the odd charm of Tatooine.   
It’s momentary beauty as the skies turned a warm orange, suns bowing to the rising moon.   
She lowered to sit on the floor, leaning back on her palms and legs stretched out in front of her. Absorbing the bearable, cooling evening heat as she closed her eyes.   
She had missed the heat, especially in Hoth. She basked as the heat slowly trickled into her bones, body relaxing as a lazy tiredness washed over her.  
It felt nice to be back under the suns that were once a part of home.

“Mind if I join?”  
Sana flicked open her eyes, staring up to Manaroo, “Not at all.”  
Manaroo crouched down to sit next to her, shuffling closer so their shoulders touched as she joined her in taking in the evening suns.   
The two women sat silently for a while, simply humming in content as their bodies slowly relaxed.  
“Credit for your thoughts, Sana?”  
“Credit for my thoughts?”  
“Tell me what’s on your mind.”  
“Oh.” Sana felt dumb, nodding slowly as she kept her eyes shut, “Just…stuff?”  
“Everything all right between you and Boba?”  
She shrugged, “Honestly, I don’t know where we stand.”  
Manaroo kept silent, and Sana felt like she couldn’t breathe, the dam in her throat burst.   
“It’s just that, before I was taken from here it was all so good. And all the time we spent apart, I always thought about him. Despite it being my choice to stay, a part of me wanted to go back to him. Now I’m here and I’m not even sure he…”  
The air stood still between them, the night’s chill slowly creeping in.  
Manaroo finally broke her silence, “Sana, these things don’t happen instantaneously, no matter how much we’d like to pretend that they do. You guys spent two years apart, yearning for the other and romanticising your reunion, it’s easy to give up when things don’t go as smoothly as we want.”  
Sana scuffed at the sand beneath the heel of her boot, Manaroo continued, “He does feel for you still. You may not see it, but his whole body relaxes around you. You’re the constant for him. My guess is Boba’s more than glad to see you by his bedside. Just bad at expressing it, like any bounty hunter.”   
“Like any bounty hunter? How do you and Dengar cope?”  
Manaroo shrugged, “He tells me whenever something bothers him, and I tell him whatever bothers me. 50/50.”  
“But Boba needs more help right now, he just woke up from a month-long coma someplace strange, his armour lost, and unable to move. He needs to focus on getting better rather than hear me moan about how much I missed him.”  
“Who knows, maybe that might help him. Clear the stale air and move on.”  
“You think so?”  
She shrugged, “Better than doing nothing.”  
“Manaroo?”  
“Yeah?”  
“Thank you.” Sana bumped her head against her shoulder, Manaroo returned the gesture, “Anytime.” 

They stayed out until the cold became too unbearable.   
Manaroo slipped into the bedroom she shared with Dengar, and Sana heard the low mumble of voices. Taking a deep breath to steel herself, Sana rapped her knuckles against the doorframe of the room where Boba was, “ _Tuk-tuk?_ ”

He turned his head from the window to look at her, nodding once for her to come in.  
Sana slumped into the seat beside the bed, hands wringing in her lap. She opened her mouth to speak and closed it again.   
She was stuck.   
She licked her lips, trying to push out any word, anything to break the silence strangling them, “Can I get you anything?”  
He shook his head, still sitting up against the pillows. Sana nodded, wringing her hands in her lap.   
It was suffocating.  
Boba finally broke his silence, “How have you been?”  
“A lot better than you’ve been it seems.” She wryly choked out. Boba was nodding, whether he was confirming or processing what she had just said, she couldn’t tell.   
“Well, the Rebellion gave me a lukewarm welcome,” the words were spilling out, “thought I was your spy or something. Accused me of all kinds of things, even Hoth.”  
“If you really were a spy you wouldn’t last a day, you’re too honest.”  
Though his face was covered, Sana could see the slight glimmer in his eyes. She snorted a little, and continued, “I just kept my head down and worked really, nothing exciting.”  
“No friends?”  
“Didn’t get much time to socialise outside of my work. Sometimes I’d have dinner with Anya and Naberri, but-“  
“Naberri?”  
“Anya’s girlfriend.”  
The air between them was uncomfortable, still stale. Quickly becoming unbearable.   
Sana wanted to reach over and shake his shoulders, curse him for being so careless and nearly getting himself killed, curse him for not making the first move, for leaving her in some jumbled limbo of uncertainty.   
Sana took a deep breath.   
Behonestbehonesbehonestbehonest.  
“Boba, I-“  
She took another deep breath, and closed her eyes.  
She couldn’t say it.   
“I missed you too, Cyar’ika.”  
Sana’s eyes flung open, he was staring straight at her, through her. Dark brown eyes luring her in, consuming every part of her being until she surrendered to him once again.   
In the safety of him, she could fall apart.   
“Boba, when they told me you were dead, I was so scared.” Sana sniffled, hot tears spilling from her eyes.  
“I know, Cyar’ika.”  
She hiccupped, choking back the broken sobs lying deeply, painfully in her chest, “I missed you every day.”   
“And I, you, Cyar’ika.” Boba’s eyes were soft, his hand twitched towards her and she held it between her own, bringing her forehead down to rest against his knuckles, “ _Ahuv_.”  
  


It wasn’t everything that they wanted to say.

  
But it was something. 


	4. Curling soul, guilty heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Boba swings the plan to retrieve his armour into action.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is pretty much the last of my pre-written chapter so who knows when I'll post next, but maybe writing an essay on the chinese economy may spur my writing ability on who knows.

“We need to get Slave-1 out of Jabba’s palace.”    
Boba’s voice was cracked and scratchy, still hoarse, and dried out from talking. Sana had concocted some sort of remedy which eased the discomfort of his burned vocal cords. Which Dengar was currently forcing him to sip down, as Boba worked on clenching and unclenching his fists, wiggling his fingers and shakily lifting and rotating his wrists.

“Right,” Dengar nodded, sitting by the bed in his turn watching over Boba. He brought up the glass for Boba to sip, “and how do we do that exactly? We can’t drag it out, and we can’t break in, I know you’ve secured that ship to the teeth.”   
“There’s two ways to get access into it; use the vambrace from my armour-”   
“Which is gods knows where in this shithole.”    
Boba bit down on his lip, the loss of his armour flaring pain in his chest, “Or using the chain code access.”   
“We can’t exactly wheel you into Jabba’s place to open the ship, from what I know the place is still a bloodbath right now.”   
“You won’t be wheeling me in.” Boba sighs, and Dengar laughed, “Don’t know how to tell you this, but you can’t stroll in yourself.”   
“I’m fully aware of that, Dengar.” Boba strained, glaring at him to shut up, “There’s two chain codes wired into Slave-1.”   
Dengar’s mouth dropped, “You wired in the witch to Slave-1? Shit, you really gotta love her for you to do that, I mean-”   
“Dengar shut up, and listen carefully. You need to take Sana to Jabba’s palace, protect her at all costs and don’t let her out of your sight. Slave-1 was in the upper hold when I left it. Approach the left hand side of the main hull, there’s a disguised external panel there, hold Sana’s inner left wrist to it and the ramp should open.”   
“Can she fly it? Or will I be having the honour?”   
“Sana’s voice will input the command for autopilot. You will programme the navicomputer to go to the IGBC headquarters on Scipio. There, Sana’s chaincode will also unlock my account, so all my credits will go to her. Got it?”  
“Sir, yes sir.” Dengar mockingly saluted, “Wanna explain to Cassandra that she’s become some sort of heiress, or is that gonna be a nice surprise?”   
Boba sighed, eyes lingering past the doorway where Sana slept on the couch, the blanket curled up around her face as she mumbled something incoherent.   
“I’ll explain when she wakes up.”   
“So, you and the Jundland witch that committed, huh?” Dengar scoffed, guiding the glass up for another sip, “Thought you more a hit and run kinda guy.”   
“The same could be said for you.”   
Dengar ignored his statement, shrugging, “Still, you made a good choice- thought I was gonna be burying you out in the sand before she arrived. Helped finish up healing my own injuries too.”    
“I’ll arrange that you’re compensated.”   
“No need.”   
“Then, why are you helping me?”   
“Humanity.”    
Boba frowned, taking another sip of the slightly oily remedy, and Dengar tapped at a small device behind his ear, “Courtesy of Manaroo. Those Aruzans really got lotta tricks.”    
“Humanity isn’t for men like us.”    
Dengar shrugged again, re-filling the glass, “Well, maybe it's time for ol’ Massiffs to learn new tricks.”   
“You saying you’re leaving the bounty business?”   
Boba took another sip from the glass, as Dengar nodded, “Thinking about settling with Manaroo. Lead a normal kinda life. After we get your corpse outta here that it. No offence, but you kill the mood.”   
“It will be a shame to see a reliable bounty hunter leave.”   
Dengar scoffed, “More jobs ‘n’ money for you in the end.”   
“But less people to trust.”   
“I’m touched.” he teased, bringing the glass up to sniff the liquid, “Gods, that smells awful. How’s it taste?”   
Boba shrugged, tender scar tissue seizing enough for him to groan, “I can barely taste it. You tell me.”   
Dengar took a sip, and his face twisted, “Cassandra might be a hell’uva witch, but dear gods, she’s no culinary expert.”   
He choked it down, and made a vague ‘uwgh’ sound, before grinning up to Boba, “Still too good for a bastard like you though.”    
“Same goes for you and Manaroo.”    
Dengar threw his head back as he laughed. 

* * *

  
  


“Is this really necessary?” Sana groaned to Boba as Manaroo wrapped another layer around her waist. Her chest hurt from the compression band over her breasts.    
Manaroo stared up at Sana from where she crouched, “Trust me, you don’t want to be a woman in there.”   
“I understand that part, but why can’t Dengar go alone to retrieve the ship?”   
“Your chain code is the only one besides my own that will open it.”   
“I don’t have a chain code?”   
“I made you a private one in the case of an emergency.”   
“When?”   
“Bespin.”   
Sana opened and closed her mouth, swallowing hard, “So left hand, left side of the ship?”   
Boba nodded, “And Scipio?”   
Sana screwed her eyes shut, trying to remember, “Say I’m claiming a deceased lifeform’s account, ask specifically for a banker named Gilean. Once he arrives, hold out my wrist, keep my face covered, withdraw 90% of the balance, but get a new credit chip?”    
“And?”   
“Deepen, and warp my voice as much as possible. Keep my head up, and be aware of my surroundings at all times. Don’t say Dengar’s name, or my own.”   
“Good. Dengar will be by your side the entire time, so you won’t be in danger. If anything happens, you listen and follow his instructions as though they were mine, understand?”   
“Understood,” Sana mumbled as she pulled on the armour vest over her filled out tunic. Boba continued his quizzing,   
“What do you say if anyone asks who you are?”   
“I avoid the question as much as possible. If I’m completely stuck, I say that I was your mechanic.”    
Manaroo secured the bandages and took a step back, eyeing Sana’s disguise up and down, “With the helmet, she’ll look like a teenage humanoid boy. Sort of.”    
Sana wrapped her neck, and secured her hair back in pins, “What are the chances of this succeeding?”   
“Don’t think about it, you have no choice but to succeed, so you will. Come here.”   
Sana sat on the edge of the bed, and Boba stiffly lifted up the rounded helmet onto her head. He secured the catch, and his bandaged hand patted against the top, “It’s not Beskar, but it will deflect the worst of the damage. There’s a comm link inside, it’s set to a secured transmission wave, so it’s just you and me on it, okay?”   
Sana nodded, looking at him through buzzy blue, and Boba continued, “I’ll be with you the entire time, if you whisper the vocoder won’t pick it up.”   
“Suns are starting to set, we ready to go?”   
Sana turned to Dengar at the door, he’d also donned a helmet and different wear to disguise himself, gun resting idly over his shoulder, “Ready as I’ll ever be.”   
Boba gave her gloved hands a quick squeeze, “Keep her safe, Dengar.”   
“Will do, Boss.” Dengar lazily saluted, and Sana stood up, reluctantly letting her hands slip from Boba’s, “We’ll be back soon.”   
“I know.”

Her arms wrapped around Dengar’s waist, and her head tucked behind his shoulder, the sands of Tatooine roared past them on the swoop. They travelled silently as the suns sunk towards the horizon.    
The looming towers of what had been Jabba’s Palace made Sana’s stomach turn, she whispered into her headset, “We’ve arrived.”   
“ **Head up, shoulders back, you’ll be fine** . ” Boba’s raspy voice assured her over the comm link.   
Dengar knocked at the huge doors, the sensor eye popped out, “ _ H'chu apenkee!  _ ”   
Sana cleared her throat, pushing her voice to be deeper, “ _ We’ve come looking for work. _ ”    
The sensor eye lingered, blinked shut and retracted. The door lifted up, and Sana released a breath she didn’t realise she was holding.    
“We’re in.”   
“ **Go to the throne room, bow to whoever sits on the throne. Speak as little as possible. Then just mingle and disappear** .” came his raspy instruction.    
“Got it.”   
“ **You’re fine.** ” he assured, “ **I believe in you.** ”   
The firm praise made her chest flutter, and Sana took a deep breath as her and Dengar drew nearer to the throne room. Dengar bumped his elbow into hers, “Don’t worry. We’ll be in and out in no time.”    
Sana nodded, and a pale blue Twi’lek waved them in. They descended the stairs, and Sana made a point to fall onto her feet a heavier, to give the impression of weighing more than she actually did, as instructed by Boba. Bib Fortuna sharp tooth grin greeted them from the throne,    
“ _ I hear you have come for work. _ ”   
Dengar nodded, warping his accent to sound like he came from the upper levels of Coruscant, “Yes, my partner and I are in search of work. I can assure you, we’re highly skilled.”    
“ _ Oh, I will be the judge of that. _ ” Fortuna tilted his head, hungry red eyes bulging down at them, “ _ What are your names? For record purposes. _ ”   
“Lun and Heth.”    
“ _ Lun... and... Heth. _ ” Fortuna mused, long nails tapping against the armrest of the throne, “ _ And what previous work have you completed? _ ”   
“Turned a few rebel fighters here and there over to the Empire.”   
“ _ Understand, you’ll need to provide more substantial proof of employment to prove your capability. _ ”   
Dengar shrugged, “You’ll just have to hire us to find out. If we fail, you don’t have to pay us.”    
Fortuna tapped his fingers, staring down at them with an unknown glimmer in his red eyes. Sana was holding her breath, heart beating so hard it hurt. An eternity passed before Fortuna finally spoke,   
“ _ I am agreeable to this. You will have a job, but for now, drink, eat, smoke. I don’t care. Jobs are discussed in the morning. _ ”   
‘Lun and Heth’ were dismissed with a wave of the wand, the two bowed deeply before mixing in with the jumpy crowds. Dengar nudged his elbow into Sana’s, and murmured past his vocoder, “Take nothing, we’ll be chased to cover the cost.”   
Sana nodded, leaning with him against a pillar, arms crossed as they watched over a tense game of Sabacc. They watched three rounds, the jittery nerves never leaving Sana as she flexed the hand tucked between her elbow and chest. Dengar nudged her foot, and Sana pushed herself off the pillar, rolling her shoulders and stretching her arms above her head as she moved towards the bathrooms. Her head felt heavy from the weight of the helmet, and she wondered how Boba did this all the time.    
Once beyond the line of sight, she pressed flat against the wall and moved quickly down the hall,    
“Where?”   
“ **Find the stairs beyond the cargo lift. Go three flights up** . ”    
Sana nodded, forgetting that he couldn’t see her, and she finally found the stairs. She crept up slowly, keeping her ears strained for any passer-bys as she climbed up, one flight, then two flights. She was nearing the top of the third flight, light filtering past the door when her helmet picked up voices. Sana froze.    
“ **Relax. Chin up, walk confidently, don’t pay attention to them and they won’t pay attention to you.** ”   
“You sure?” she whispered, rolling her shoulders back and tilting her chin up, before continuing to the top.    
“ **If you look like you know what you’re doing, they won’t question it.** ”   
Sana wanted to make a joke about that being from experience, but her heart froze in her chest.    
Astrid stood at the top of the stairs, shivering in her skimpy outfit, and neck red raw from the collar. Her right eye was swollen, and she glared down at Sana,   
“ _ The fuck are you staring at? _ ”   
Sana cleared her throat, and mumbled an apology, before walking past her to the door.    
The wind from the desert hit her as she opened the door, she hissed, squeezing her eyes shut from the sharpness of the sudden light.    
Tears spilled out.    
Sana took a deep breath to try and pull herself back together, as she scanned the cargo hold. Her eyes settled on Slave-1, tucked in a corner, and being poked at by Jawas.    
“Boba?”   
“ **What is it?** ”   
“Jawas are trying to take apart your ship.”   
He muttered something she couldn’t understand, “ **I’ll tell Dengar, in the meantime find a place to hide.** ”    
“Copy that.” Sana mumbled, the buzz of the comm link died, and she slipped behind a pile of crates. Crouching down, and bringing her knees up to her chest. Her chest was really beginning to hurt from the compression bandages, and she tried to take deep breaths to calm herself. Her eyes were stinging. Her skin was crawling. Uneasy nausea rolling within her. Sana tried to swallow down the hiccups threatening to burst through her chest.

  
Deep breath in, deep breath out.   
Deep breath in, deep breath out.    
Deep breath in, dee-

  
“ **Dengar’s going to distract them, be ready to open the ship.** ”   
Sana pushed herself to her feet, stumbling towards the corner of the ship. She moved to the left side, pulling off her left glove, and holding her inner wrist out to face towards the slightly sunken panel. A red light shone, and scanned. The ramp dropped, and Sana rushed up, entering the dusty cockpit. The controls lit up, the automated voice filling her ears,    
“ **Welcome, Cassandra Lithé. Is emergency protocol to be engaged?** ”   
Dengar rushed up the ramp, and Sana slipped off her helmet, squeezing her eyes shut to remember Boba’s command, “Slave-1, draw up the ramp and engage autopilot. Get us out of cannon fire range.”    
“ **Drawing up ramp, and engaging autopilot, Cassandra Lithé.** ”   
The engine hummed to life, and Sana disconnected the comm link from her helmet, “Boba, we’re on the ship.”   
“ **Good, Dengar, plot the course to Scipio. Contact me again when you arrive.** ”   
“You got it.” Dengar pulled off his own helmet, and sank into the pilot’s seat, “Strap in darling, you never know when the Jawas’ll raise the alarm.”   
Sana shakily did the clasps, and hugged herself, closing her eyes as she rubbed up and down her arms. The emptying ‘ _ whoooosh _ ’ of the ship launching into space filled her stomach, the vast nothingness surrounding her.    
An ungloved hand patted her head. She frowned, opening her eyes to find Dengar leaning back in the seat, “He explained the whole hyperspace sickness thing, so I’ve got strict instructions to keep ya grounded.”   
He patted her head again once more for emphasis, and Sana mumbled a small ‘thanks’ as she brought her knees back up to her chest. Dengar raised his eyebrows, “Something the matter?”   
Sana shook her head, curling up further on herself as guilt ate her from the inside out.    
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Many thanks for the support, and for reading.   
> See ya'll soon.


	5. Feel my hands, feel my life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A journey to Scipio, wounds healing, and an old bedtime story.

“The deceased also had a variety of property in their claim, each allocated maintenance fees each lunar cycle.” Gilean licked his lips, “All held anonymously of course. In total, there’s a ship locker in Mos Eisley, another locker and a room in the Coruscant mid-levels, and a property on Concord Dawn. What is to be done with these properties?”

  
“Um,” Sana licked her lips under the helmet, the male muun widened his eyes expectantly waiting for her response. Sana cleared her throat, “The property on Concord Dawn is to be retained. The Coruscant properties cleared and any items within put into storage in the vault here. The Mos Eisley locker I will clean myself, organise to have the locker’s renting term end by the end of the month. Got it?”  
Gilean hummed, “Very… thoughtful of you, young sir. I will have your instructions arranged immediately. We will have to wait momentarily while I arrange for the sum to come through.”  
Sana nodded, “Thank you. You do your job well.”  
“As our former employer would so _kindly_ remind me. You are not from a Basic world are you?”  
“Uh, no. Huttese.”  
“Ah, that explains it.” Gilean hummed, typing commands into a holopad, “I always had an ear for languages.”  
“A- wonderful skill to have.” Sana managed to choke out, she could feel the weight of Dengar’s gaze on the back of her head, “How long for the sum to come through?”  
“Oh, mere minutes. How long have you spoken Basic?”  
“Frequently? Um, since being under the Boss’s...employment,” it wasn’t technically a lie, “maybe 5 Tatooine orbits.”  
“Interesting, your salary was never accounted for?”  
“The Boss would pay upfront, cash in hand.”  
“Oh.” Gilean regarded her for a moment, then sighed, “Well, with the leftover sum in the account, minus the packing and transport fees, as well as my own, it should amount to just about 300,000 credits. Correct?”

  
Sana’s mouth hung open under her helmet, her stomach back-flipped, how did he have so much money? She scrambled to hold herself together, “Correct. Thank you.”  
“Funny,” he hummed again, inputting the final commands and putting away the holopad, “the Boss never mentioned you, at all. But I guess chain codes cannot lie.” 

Sana hummed an agreement, and the door opened, and a trolley of camtonos were wheeled in. Sana pointed towards the ship mutely, and the droids nodded. Gilean raised his eyebrows, “You seemed to have pleased him, after all you possess all his wealth now. I’m surprised you don’t have his armour.”  
Sana could feel sweat prickling on her forehead, and the small of her back, “I- I saved his life on one occasion, I think he felt like he owed me.”  
“Interesting.” he hummed, watching the droid’s load the ship, “He was an _honourable_ man, very hard to come by in his line of business.”  
“Yes.” Sana agreed, nodding, and itching to run up the ramp of the ship, “Uh, is the credit chit ready?”  
“Oh, of course. How could I forget? I’ll send for it now.” he waved over a droid, and Sana wanted to scream ‘hurry up’ over and over. She wanted to get as far away as possible, and as quick as possible. 

Gilean hummed again, the sound sending an itch through her brain, “It’s funny how you’re nameless even on the records.”  
“I enjoy my anonymity, he uh, respect-ed that.”  
“Oh of course, anonymity is something so hard to come by these days.”  
The door opened and the droid waddled through, Sana resisted the urge to tap her foot as it slowly made it’s way over, “Still anonymity is near imposs-”  
Sana snatched the chit from the droid’s hand, “Thank you for all your assistance in sorting out the affairs. Take a bonus.” 

She spun on her heel and sped up the ramp, eager to leave the grimy banking world behind. The ramp closed up, and she joined Dengar in the cockpit, shuddering as she took off her helmet, “Great Power, I’m glad to be away from him.”  
“Bankers and businessmen are a slimy bunch.” Dengar nodded, “Contact Boba. We should be back on Tatooine before the end of the rotation.”

Sana moved to the observation deck, taking several moments to activate the holo as Slave-1 entered Hyperspace, her stomach rolling.  
“Boba?”  
The blue image of his bandaged face flickered on, “Everything alright?”  
She nodded, “All done.”  
“I had faith in you.”  
“Dengar said we should be in Tatooine before 0 hour. How are you feeling?”  
“Stiff, but otherwise fine.”  
“I’ll change the bandages when I get back.”  
“You’ll rest when you get back.”  
“I’m not tired.”  
She could feel the raised eyebrow from behind the bandages, “You’re straining yourself. Dengar told me you didn’t rest the entire time from Tatooine to Scipio… Something is wrong.”  
Not a question, a statement. Concern creeping into his voice, “Sana, tell me.”  
She shook her head, “Maybe a little tired, but I’m fine. I promise.”  
“Sana.”  
She shook her head again, “It’s nothing, just a bit of jumpspace sickness. Rest.” 

* * *

The moons were at their peak when Slave-1 landed on the sand. Sana nearly kissed the familiar ground, strong and sturdy beneath her feet. She locked up the ship, and nearly stumbled inside, limbs heavy and head foggy as Manaroo greeted them in the kitchen.  
“How’d it go?”  
Dengar enveloped her in a hug, planting a kiss on her cheek, “All over, thank gods.”  
Sana left them to sneak into the bedroom and grab her clothes, before speeding to the shower. Pulling off her layers, her body sighed in relief when the chest compression bandage was wiggled off her. Sana shook out her stiff body, and climbed into the shower, feeling her wired up body melt under the hot water. Still the nausea stayed. 

She shivered as she climbed out and dried off, changing before picking up her discarded clothes and moving back to the bedroom. 

Opening the door, the beam of light from the kitchen hit Boba, sitting up in the bed and eyes closed, breathing softly. She watched him from the door momentarily, before his eyes flickered open, she mustered her best smile as she closed the door,  
“How’s my patient?”  
He grumbled something, and in just her nightshirt and underwear, she sat on the edge of the bed and laid a hand over his cheek. The feeling of slowly returning strength seeped through the bandages, but exhaustion crept closely behind. She tutted, “And you give out to me for straining myself.”  
Boba hummed something, beckoning his fingers at her. 

Sana stayed put, but he pulled her closer to him, “Come here, Cyar’ika.”  
He positioned her head to rest on the juncture of his shoulder and neck, with one of his arms draped over her waist, and his hand combing through her short hair. Her shoulders tensed, trying hard not to lean her weight on him, and Boba sighed, “Relax.”  
“I’ll hurt you though.”  
He pressed his lips to her hair, “You could never hurt me.”  
“Boba-”  
“Relax.” he shushed, and Sana’s body slowly betrayed her, settling and snuggling into his familiar warmth, a promise of safety and love in his arms. He hummed satisfactorily, before whispering into her ear,  
“What has you so tense?”  
She stayed silent, hoping he would guess that she was just asleep. He stopped combing her hair and angled her face to look up at him, “Cyar’ika?”  
Under his eyes like this, she was an open book, completely vulnerable and exposed to him. Unable, and not wanting to lie. She finally whispered, “I saw Astrid at the palace.”  
“And, you feel guilty?”  
She nodded, tears that she had been holding back all day spilling over, “I have to help her, but I don’t know how-”  
He pulled her back into him, stroking her hair while shushing her, “You take too much responsibility on these shoulders, Cyar’ika.”  
“I have to be. I can’t fight and defend and protect. I’m not strong like you.”  
“No, you are not a violent person, or an angry or hateful one.” he tucked her hair behind her ear, “You heal and take on the pain of others despite your own. A far greater strength than many give credit to. But you’re still only one person, San. And one that I deeply care for, and cannot afford to lose.”  
Sana nuzzled deeper into him, and he continued, pulling the blanket over her body, “I will ensure Astrid gets out of there. I promise you. So rest for me. Let me take are of you.”  
He pressed a small kiss onto her head again, and she closed her eyes, sleep slowly overcoming her, “How did you get so strong already?”  
He chuckled, the warmth of it rippling through her body, “I have a wonderful Healer.”

* * *

  
Sana slept soundly against him, barely moving except for the steady rise and fall of her chest, her breath warm against his neck. Bodies intertwined again. Even though his held a stinging pain of discomfort, he held still, cherishing her.

He had missed this.

The suns rose too quickly, and Sana woke up, smiling up at him with puffy, bleary eyes before giving him a kiss on the cheek through his bandages, and croaking out a weak “Morning, ahuv.”  
“Good morning, Cyar’ika.” he whispered, stroking over the scarred cheek.  
Her hand came up to hold over his, and she nuzzled into the bandaged palm, eyes closed and face soft and rosy. This was pure bliss, worth a night of mild discomfort.

He had missed this. 

“I have to change the bandages today.” she mumbled, “Check how your skin is.”  
He stared at her a minute, processing her words. His skin… He hadn’t seen it. Too drugged up on painkillers when she changed them after he had initially woke up.  
Pain shot across his face, his back, his arms, his legs, his chest. Like some whip made of fire cracking against him. Trapped, expo-  
“Boba?”  
He blinked, pulling himself out of his own head, “Sorry?”  
“I asked were you in pain, you blanked out on me.”  
“I-” he cleared his throat, “Just thinking.”  
Sana nodded up to him, yawning behind her hand, “Would you like me to change them now, or after breakfast?”  
“When you’re awake is fine.” he smirked, and she stuck out her tongue.  
Gods he wanted to kiss her again. 

Patience. 

She gave him one more kiss, before slipping out from the covers, and his arms. Blood tingled through his veins, as he flexed the arm that had cradled her neck all night before pushing himself stiffly to sit back up.  
The exhaustion that hit him from the simple act was terrifying. When had he gotten so weak?

  
Sana returned, holding a clean roll of bandages, a jar of something he didn’t recognise, and a dish of blue bantha milk, as well as a cloth and a dish of soapy water. She sat back down beside him, laying out a towel on the bed, and taking out a pair of scissors she had tucked under her arm, she took his hand and snipped, slowly unwinding to reveal hot, angry flesh.

Boba stared as more of his arm was revealed to him.  
Swollen, red splotches, as well as yellows and fading browns. Strips of crusted blistered skin that stung as the fabric was pulled off. Dried chunks of blood falling on the towel placed beneath his arm. Large patches of hair gone. The muscles and tendons thinned out, and weak.

He didn’t recognise his own arm.

Sana looked up at him, reading his shock, “It looks a lot better than it did a month ago, Boba. Give it another month, and it will look better again.”  
“My… whole body looks like this?”  
Sana’s face was perfectly relaxed as she carefully cleaned his arm, gentle and loving with each movement enough to soothe the angry heat his body was producing, “Your body has a variety of burns from the Sarlacc’s stomach acid, but they will heal and close with time as all scars do. The colours are just healing bruises, simply temporary. And the swelling has decreased significantly.”

Boba stared at the unfamiliar hand in hers. It moved when he commanded it to, but it wasn’t his.  
It couldn’t be.

Sana mixed the powder into the bantha milk, and it turned into some stodgy paste which she massaged into his cleaned skin, smiling up at him, “Boba, your organs and bones are not damaged, and your burns are not infected. You may have some residual scarring, but you’re not going to suffer any permanent physical affliction from this. Take care of yourself, and rest.”

She moved to the other side of the bed, letting his bare arm breath and absorb whatever she had rubbed into it, and repeated the process with the other arm.  
“Are you alright?”  
“It’s just...not what I expected.”  
“How so?” she hummed, moving up to his shoulder to undo the chest bindings.  
Boba looked down at the open, angry red scars across his chest. He had never been a vain man per se, but his body had become completely unrecognisable to him, “The scars… they’re disgusting.”  
“Boba,” she held his face between her hands, forcing him to stare at her, “you have been through what no one else has, and lived to tell the tale. These are tales of survival. They show that you are strong. Stronger than anyone else has been. Nobody has any say over them.”  
“What about you?”  
“Me?”  
“You’re not nobody to me, what do you think?”  
She removed his face bandages, and gently cleaned, “I don’t mind them. You are as handsome as ever to me.”  
“Bullshit”  
“Not.” she cleaned and wrung out the cloth, wiping over his head, and behind his ears, “You’ve always been handsome to me. And you always will be.”  
“What makes you so sure?”

Sana put down her cloth, and gently, planted air light kisses across the sensitive skin as she whispered to him,  
“No matter what, you will still have the same lips that say sweet things to me, and tease me, and kiss me. Still have the same strong arms and hands that hold me, and keep me warm, and safe. Still have the same eyes that I melt under each time, that hold so much love when they look at me. Still have the same heart that beats alongside my own. Still the same handsome Boba I fell in love with. And still the same handsome Boba I love today, will love tomorrow and the day after that and that and that and so on, and on and on, until the Jaya tree bends in the wind.”

He frowned, “I’m not familiar with the expression.”  
She chuckled, massaging the paste onto his face, as she explained, “The Jaya tree has strong bark, strong and sturdy branches like metal. No matter how hard the wind blows, the Jaya tree will not budge, will not move. It stands the test of time, always.”   
Sana punctuated with a soft kiss on his lips. One that he quickly melted into, pulling to hold her close to him.   
She pulled away, chipped tooth smile warming the apples of her cheeks and eyes crinkled up and shining into his, “I need to do your back now, ahuv.”

* * *

Manaroo’s eyes widened when she saw Boba’s unbandaged face, as did Dengar’s when he walked in,  
“Blimey.”  
“Say nothing.”  
“Want me to at least shave the rest of your hair off? The patchy look isn’t great.”  
Boba ran his palm over his head, as Sana massaged the paste into his back, “Yeah, it’s probably for the best. Can you do it after she’s done?”  
“Will do, Boss. Does that mean we’re still gonna have a mummified corpse in the bed after today, or?”  
“Nope. Just bruising and swellings left now, the scarring will heal with time.” Sana chimed.

“Bye bye your good looks, Boba.”  
Manaroo swatted Dengar, and he grunted, “Just kidding. Your actual face is still there, just… bald and scarred.”  
“Shut up, Dengar.” Boba sighed.  
“No seriously, when we first found you, your face was split right open. I thought I saw your brain.”  
“Dengar.”  
“The witch did a great job.”  
“I’m not a witch!” Sana cried.   
“Why are you called Lahirean witches then?”  
Sana muttered something in Lahir’. Dengar raised his eyebrows, “Did she just curse me?”  
“Who knows, but I might hire her to if you don’t shut up.”  
He held his hands up in mock surrender, “Alright. Alright. But seriously, Cassandra, why are you called witches then?”  
“Empire propaganda.” she nearly spat, “Started around the same time they said we drained babies of blood.”  
“I’d been meaning to ask you about that.”  
“We don’t drain babies!”  
“Well where’d that come from then?”  
“It’s from an old story,” Sana reminisced, _“_ Back home, when a child was born, we’d bring them to the Jaya tree. We’d lay them out in a bundle on the cradled branches. The Healer would then prick their thumb, and check it for any illnesses against this rune” she held up the palm of her hand, “Then they’d draw the symbols on the baby as a sort of ritual to keep away sickness.”  
“Maybe it came from the old story then.”  
Sana shook her head, “The old story is just the tale of the first Lahirean Healer. We tell it the children at bedtime back home.”  
“I wanna hear the Lahirean bedtime story.” Manaroo said, pulling over a chair. Dengar sat down on it and pulled her onto his lap, “Yeah, tell us about this first Lahirean Healer then.”  
Sana looked up at Boba, and he nodded, “I’d like to hear it too.”  
Sana cleared her throat, and settled to sit beside Boba on the bed, “Well, it’s been a while but I’ll do my best.”

“ _Long ago when nights were long and dark, and winters stretched for endless months, a child was born. A baby girl, she was small and thin, her skin as grey as the riverbed stones, eyes as dark as the night sky. From the moment she was born, all she did was cry. Her mother tried to calm the baby, but it was no use. She wailed each night, always in pain._ _  
_ _The mother and her husband could no longer cope, they knew that they could not help her. So they took her to the woods, and wrapping her up in a bundle, left her in the branches of the old Jaya tree. Leaving her to the mercy of the Great Power._ _  
_ _The moon rose, and the stars shone. The Jaya tree woke from its slumber, stretching its branches and straightening its warped back. It was shocked to see the baby in its branches, wailing and crying under the moon’s light._ _  
_ _“Who are you, deary?” the Jaya tree asked, but the baby could not answer._ _  
_ _So the Jaya tree turned to the North star, who spent each and every day and night awake, “Pray tell me, who is this child?”_ _  
_ _“The child is a sickly being, with no time left,” the North star solemnly answered. And the South star told the Jaya tree, “Her parents have nobly left her to return to the arms of the Great Power.”_ _  
_ _“A shame,” the moon hummed, it’s waxing light shining on the child’s face, “such a tiny little thing.”_ _  
_ _The Jaya tree looked at the baby in it’s branches, known by all for its kindness and giving nature, its heart broke at the child’s painful cries. The Jaya tree brought her up to the sky, calling out, “Great Power, take pity on the young and innocent, have mercy and grant her your grace.”_ _  
_ _The sky burst and shone with thousands of colours that began their winter dance across the sky, a mighty voice boomed, “I, the Great Power, who flows through the blood of each being, the sap of each tree and plant, who resides in the ground of the moon and earth, have already passed judgement on this child. Young and innocent as they may be, they have been destined to have a short life. You disagree with this choice, bountiful Jaya tree?”_ _  
_ _“Yes, mighty Great Power,” the Jaya tree responded, bowing low and holding out the child, “No thing so small deserves such pain, such loneliness in their final hour. I will give my life for hers.”_ _  
_ _“A noble gesture, Jaya tree.” The Great Power hummed, thinking for a moment, “Then perhaps you may carve my symbol on her hands, your symbol on her chest, the stars and moon symbol on her cheek. Let her life be the combined force of us all.”_ _  
_ _“But I have nothing to carve with!” The Jaya tree cried._ _  
_ _The Great Power rose up through the Jaya tree’s veins, and the Jaya tree’s branches blossomed and bloomed with it’s soft flowers, growing small thorns on their stems. The Great Power came forward, and enveloped the baby in it’s winter dance lights. The Jaya tree slowly carved in the symbols, it’s flowers keeping the child free from pain while the moon and stars sang their songs to heal her._ _  
_ _The child’s cries turned to small laughs, her grey skin turned pink, her dark eyes to the softest greens of the distant summer leaves._ _  
_ _The first child of Lahir’ was born._ _  
_ _“Mighty Jaya tree, you have given your life for another, but through this, your life will live on through her, and her descendants. She will carry and pass on your sacrifice, she will pass on your nobility, and your mercy. Each summer and spring when you blossom and bloom fruit, she and her descendants will honour you, owing their power to you, the stars and the moon.”  
__The Jaya tree’s branches began to seize, its head still bowed to the Great Power, “Thank you for your mercy,” it honoured, stroking the little girl’s cheek with the last of its life, “I am honoured to live on through her life, forever and ever.”  
__The sun began to rise, and the Great Power guided the girl so she was returned to her village. Gifted with the graces of mercy, healing and life, she carried on the Jaya tree’s love and healing, as did her children and their children and their children. Each summer, when the old Jaya tree bloomed, they sang the songs of the stars and the moon to its flowers, easing the knotted trunks and branches with their hands.  
__Many orbits passed, and the girl grew old, her bones weary and her heart slow, she returned to the Jaya tree’s branches where she had been reborn. Sitting at the base of the tree below the blossomed branches, she watched the moon rise once more, and under the star’s light, she returned to the arms of the one who had first cared for her. Becoming one with the one who had loved her, and given her life. Forever, and ever.”_

  
Manaroo sniffed, and rubbed her eyes. Dengar stared with his mouth slightly open, frowning, “Shit, you tell that for bedtime ?”  
Sana chucked, and Boba stroked her cheek, the many songs of the stars and the moon she had sung for him warming his blood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lot happens in this, but it felt weird when I tried to separate it out so????  
> Thanks for reading!  
> And yes, I listened to the Pan's Labyrinth theme on repeat when writing the story


	6. Regrets linger like ghosts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dengar is sent out on a secret mission, and Boba reflects on the regrets he held from his life before the Sarlacc.

“Take two camtonos with you.”   
Dengar nodded, and turned to leave as Sana walked back in, “Everything all right?”   
“Just received some orders from the Boss.”   
“Oh, keep safe.” she patted his shoulder. He lazily saluted, and Sana continued into the room, sitting beside the bed. 

Boba sighed,    
“I think something is wrong in my shoulder, it hurts to rotate it.”   
“Probably from me sleeping on it,” she winced, reaching out to hold her palms against his skin, a familiar warmth trickled through, sluggish and dully aching as she moved back to settle over his shoulder blade, “Something’s trapped here. Can you turn away from me a little bit?”    
Boba shuffled, manoeuvring himself so more of his back faced her. Sana placed her palm gently over, whispering while her palm began to heat up and tingle. Boba groaned a little, “Feels nice.”   
“Good,” she hummed, beginning to massage out the issue as she leaned forward to kiss behind his ear, “What did you send Dengar out for?”   
“A job, he’ll be back before nightfall. Who were you talking to?”   
“Seryozha, he was complaining to me about his lack of rest since Nasya began to walk and she chipped in with what language she has.”   
“Nasya… the baby Katya was pregnant with when we met them?”   
Sana nodded, feeling the dull ache slowly fizzle out beneath her palm, “Yup, two years old now.”

Boba muttered something, before bumping his head back into hers, sighing in relief against her, “Thank you.”   
She smiled against his ear, planting another small kiss, “You don’t need to thank me for these things.”   
“I want to.”   
They stayed still for a moment, feeling each other, before Sana reluctantly pulled away, “Time for the daily check up.”   
“It’s fine.”   
“It’s not.” she huffed, peeling the hem of his shirt up to examine the more sensitive scar on his stomach, “And you will not try to tell me otherwise.”   
“When can I leave the bed?”   
Sana hummed for a minute, thinking as her fingers traced over the tender scar tissue, “You’ve gained a lot of mobility already in half the time I expected. You should take it easy.”   
“I need to move around again.”   
“Patience. If you strain yourself you will not get better.”   
Boba sighed, and Sana slowly let the tender scar tissue knit back together beneath her hand, “You are someone I care deeply for, and cannot afford to lose, Boba. So take your time to heal, for me, ahuv.”   
He let out a huff of laughter, “You're using my own lines against me?”   
Sana stuck her tongue at him, before smiling and pressing a small kiss over the sealing scar, “Any other aches and pains I should attend to?”   
He narrowed his eyes, and beckoned her to come closer to him, Sana complied, and he pulled her face into his, kissing her. She softly moaned into his mouth, hands reaching up to cradle his head closer to her while her lips trailing down to suck on his bottom lip. Boba pulled her away, smirking at the small whine of protest, and leaning in to kiss her nose,    
“None. Now go rest, my little hypocrite.” 

* * *

Sana slept soundly, overcome by exhaustion as her head rested on his chest, hands curled up around her face. Boba let his fingers idly comb through her hair, hearing her deep breaths sync up with his own.

Her gaze had never changed.

Cheeks dappled pink, and a chipped tooth smile, while little crow's feet were beginning a dance around her eyes. Pure, and unadulterated. She still looked at him with love and adoration, teasing glints and admiration.

Now as she slept on his chest, breathing deeply like the waves of a home long past, all the regrets that had filled him in his semi-conscious state returned to him.    
He had never said ‘I love you’ directly as she had, though he had thought it often by her side. He had never told her how he thought she was beautiful, though it crossed his mind whenever she smiled at him. Waking up by her side, smelling her and hearing her voice first thing had become one of his greatest rewards in his previous life, the promise of her waiting for him had brought him back faster.    
Things he had thought were weaknesses if he indulged in them in the past, haunted him as ‘should haves’ when they were apart. He had stayed silent and closed up, waking up in the morning alone after dreaming of her gentle touches or soft whispers became a curse.   
A knife stuck in between his ribs that twisted over and over pulverising the heart he kept hidden deep beneath.

She whimpered something in Lahir’ beneath his hand, and he shushed her, fingers combing through her hair. She shuffled, turning so her other cheek rested on his chest. He felt his lips twitch up, and pulled the blankets closer around her shoulders.    


Manaroo gently knocked, and peaked her head past the door, “Cassandra still asleep?”  
“Nearly dead to the galaxy,” he mumbled, “What’s wrong?”  
“Dengar’s not back yet.” her wide eyes that had flickered across his face suddenly had fallen to the floor, as if embarrassed, “Didn’t tell me where he was going, just said you sent him on a job. He’ll be alright, right?”  
“More than.” he assured, “I swear to you, Manaroo, I wouldn’t send him on a job that was risky.”  
She pursed her lips, and nodded, “I’ll hold you to that, Fett.”  
He nodded once to signal he understood, and she left again.  
  
Sana pushed herself off his chest, rubbing her eyes as she yawned, “What job did you send Dengar on?”  
“You can all quiz him when he gets back. Rested?”  
“Better.” she managed a smile, before yawning again. He raised an eyebrow, “You can go back to sleep, San.”  
She shook her head, stretching her arms up in the air and filling the room with a series of small ‘pops’, “I won’t sleep tonight if I do. How are you feeling?”  
“Pain wise? Fine. Overall like stagnant shit.”  
“Charming.” she rolled her eyes, “You hungry? I think there’s leftover soup from last night.”  
“Yeah, that would be nice. Will you eat with me?”  
“Of course.” she chirped, sliding off the bed and walking out into the kitchen.  


Manaroo was nowhere in sight, and Sana spun around looking for her. Her eyes landed to look outside, Manaroo was hugging Dengar as he climbed off the swoop. He picked her up, spinning her around a little before pulling off his face coverings and kissing her. Sana smiled to herself, remembering similar interactions between her and Boba.    
Manaroo rushed over to the swoop and helped someone off. Sana frowned, watching the cloak figure throw their arms around Manaroo. Neon-pink arms flashed as the cloak sleeves dropped.    
She ran over and pulled open the door.    
Manaroo and the cloaked girl turned to her.    
Astrid pulled down her hood, crossing her arms, smirking,

  
“ _ Shit Jundland witch, that’s what you really look like, huh? _ ”


	7. Push the boundaries of discomfort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Overworking, exhaustion, new roommates, and alone time.  
> TW// a little smut 😎

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All Astrid's dialogue is done in italics cause she speaks Huttese just to clarify (myself included, my tired ass had no clue what was going on during editing.)  
> Enjoy!

Astrid’s eyes widened when she saw Boba.    
“ _ Shit, Boss, the Sarlacc chewed you up that bad? _ ”   
He glared, before pointing at the seat beside the bed, “Sit.”   
“ _ Getting straight to it, huh? _ ” Astrid slumped onto the chair, and folded her arms, “ _ So, what's the deal? _ ”   
Boba reached over to the bedside table, pulling up the box of tools Dengar brought him from the ship earlier as he ignored Astrid,   
“ _ Kitchen slave? Dancer? Singer? Sex slave- _ ”   
“Arm.”    
Astrid reluctantly extended her arm towards him, he held the scanner over it. A series of small waves filled the screen, “You’re slave chip is gonna be removed. After that, you decide what you do.”   
“ _ Seriously? _ ”   
“Seriously.”   
“ _ Didn’t take you to be an anti-slavery kinda guy. _ ”   
“The galaxy is full of surprises.” he sighed, holding up the scanner, it’s result came up negative. He switched frequency, re-setting the scan, and Astrid kept talking, “ _ Is that why you never hired any of the dancers out? _ ”   
“That, and I was otherwise committed.”    
The scan result was negative again, Astrid raised her eyebrows, “ _ That’s where you draw the line?” _   
“I am many things, but a dishonourable man is not one of them.”   
“ _ The galaxy really is full of surprises. _ ” she muttered. 

Sana knocked at the door, poking her head through, “How’s it going?”   
Boba sighed, removing the scanner from Astrid’s arm, “Do you think you would be able to locate a slave chip?”   
She frowned, unbuttoning and pushing up her sleeves as she sat on the bed, “I can try. May I?” she gently took Astrid’s arm in her hands, and closed her eyes.   
Astrid shifted uncomfortably, “ _ This feels...oddly violating. _ ”   
Sana’s hands drifted down to poke below Astrid’s right ribs, “Here.”   
“Lift your shirt up.” Boba instructed, bringing over the scanner again. Low and behold, Sana had found it. Sana gently felt the skin around it, “It’s maybe 2 centimetres below the skin, between the lower floating ribs...it’ll be difficult to remove.”    
“ _ We have to cut it out don’t we? _ ” Astrid sighed. Sana looked up to her, “ _ I’ll ensure you don’t feel a thing, alright? _ ”   
Astrid sighed, mumbling something to herself in something he couldn’t understand, “ _ Alright, where d’ya want me? _ ”   
“ _ You can take the other bed there _ .” Sana pointed to the other side of the room, Astrid got up, and trudged to the other side of the room, flopping onto the bed.    
Sana reached her hand out to cradle the side of his face, he let his hand come over hers, fingers intertwining as he leaned into her palm, leaving a small kiss. “Are you sure you’re up for this? You look tired.”   
Sana’s eyes crinkled up, mouth twitching a little as she leaned forward, “You worry too much, ahuv.”    
She planted a kiss on his temple, letting their foreheads bump together before getting up to go to Astrid.    
Boba watched from across the room as Sana set up the impromptu surgery. Muttered Huttese spoken back and forth, and hisses from Astrid when Sana made her incision, and removed the slave chip. Sana’s low incantations filled the room, her arms slowly shaking, skin growing a sheeny grey, her body slowly began to sway slightly.    
Sana gasped and fell back onto the floor, staring at the ceiling while blood trickled across her cheek.    
“Sana!”   
Astrid sat back up, weakly croaking, “ _ She’s alive, sorta.”  _ _  
_ She was breathing, chest heaving with each inhale.  _  
_ _ “ _ Overworked herself again.” he mumbled, before shouting, “Dengar!”

“Sana? Hey kid, can you hear me?” 

The spinning ceiling slowed, Dengar came into view above her, “Hello.”    
“You good?”   
She grimaced, “Hands hurt.”   
“Boss is saying you need to go to bed.”   
Sana shook her head, curling up on the floor, “Here is fine.”    
“Here is not fine. Come on,”    
Sana felt herself being hauled off her ground, blue hands wrapped around her shoulder, someone was smearing circles across her back “Come on, sweetie, let’s get all the blood off your hands, and get you to bed, alright?”   
Manaroo helped her sit down on the edge of the toilet seat lid, and took her shaking hands to gently wipe them clean. Sana flinched every time the rough cloth swiped over the rune, and Manaroo would wince a small ‘sorry’ each time. Manaroo helped wipe the drying blood from her face, before helping her stand up.    
The whole bathroom went sideways, and Manaroo barely grabbed her before she nearly hit the floor. Sana was guided back to the bedroom, barely hearing anything from the pounding in her head as she crawled onto the same bed as Boba. She felt herself being pulled closer and blankets being tucked around her. She didn’t realise how cold she was. Gentle fingers were combing through her hair as she buried her face into his neck, inhaling his scent like some remedy for the overwhelming morning. 

And then the lights turned out. 

* * *

The house slowly felt overcrowded as the days passed. Everyone grumbling their frustrations as bathrooms were occupied, or not enough food was made. Sana had made a permanent nightly residence curled up on Boba’s bed, Astrid slept on the makeshift one from when she had first arrived. Though the crowded house was stifling at times, being curled up beside Boba made it bearable. Sometimes they lay forehead to forehead and would whisper until one fell asleep. Sometimes he would lay on her chest, hand intertwined with hers, while her free hand stroked up and down his head. Sometimes she would bury herself into his neck, only feeling him as she descended into a completely safe, dreamless sleep. . 

She woke up buried into his neck, her mouth as dry as cotton wool, and eyes crusty as she lifted her heavy head off his shoulder. Boba mumbled something in his sleep, turning over so his back faced her.    
His healing progress made her heart swell with pride. In the span of a month, he was able to sit up and move his upper body around freely, his lower body slowly coming back into control, while the swelling subdued significantly, the bruises faded, and the scars grew less tender with each day she spent massaging treatment into them. Boba may not have been as patient with himself as she had prescribed, but still took each step proudly, working hard to move more comfortably and easily each day.    
He was getting better, and she couldn’t be happier.    
Yet, something deep underneath tugged sharply enough that sometimes she felt as though she couldn’t breathe. 

  
Sana rubbed her eyes, and yawned, leaning head to kiss between his shoulder blades, letting her fingers trace lightly over the sealed scars. His spine shuddered a little, but his breathing stayed deep, and steady. She leaned her head against his back.   
She missed mornings like this long passed.    
The heat his body radiated, and his scent filling her nose made something bubble deep inside her. She wanted to feel him in her again.    
The bubbling intensified at the memories of him waking her up by slipping his fingers between her legs, kissing at her neck as he expertly stroked that spot again and again, until she was a shuddering, wet mess in his arms. Or when she woke him up enclosing her mouth around him, feeling his fingers rake through her hair as his own moans and grunts filled her ears.    
She felt a dampness take over her. And tried to shake it off.   
Those kinds of mornings were few and far between even back then. And though she was more than grateful that he was alive and still with her, the pent up frustration of being unable to even masturbate her urges into check within the crowded house was building up in her. 

  
She took a few deep breaths, and pushed herself out of bed, creeping out silently to the kitchen where the three other occupants of the house sat, dressed and ready to go. Astrid grinned, “ _ She awakens! _ ”    
Sana stared, confused, Manaroo poured her some caff, handing the steaming mug over to her,    
“You need anything? We’re headed into Mos Eisley for supplies.”   
“Oh, no. Um,” Sana took a sip, letting the steam drifting up into her face relax her, “Thank you.  _ Astrid are you okay to be up and about? _ ”   
“ _ More than.”  _ she shrugged, finishing up her own cup of caff, “ _ I’m headed to see if there’s any jobs available.” _ _  
_ _ “So soon?” _ _  
_ _ “Wanna contribute to the household.”  _ she teased, “ _ Besides, I’m going insane wallowing around and doing nothing.” _ _  
_ _ “Well… if you’re sure.  _ Thank you, for the caff.”   
“No worries, give us a buzz on the comms if you think of anything. We should be back after high sun.”   
Sana lazily saluted, and they got up and left. She waved them off from the door, arms wrapped around her chest as she sighed.    
An idea crept in. With Boba sleeping and the house empty, this could be the best opportunity…   
  


Sana bit her lip, and crept back into the bedroom, grabbing her towel to go to the bathroom for privacy when Boba rolled over, pushing himself up to sit, “Morin’”   
“Good morning.” she choked out, her thighs nearly shaking from the frustration of building up heat between her legs. He rubbed his eyes, tilting his head as he frowned, “Something wrong?”   
“Nope.” she answered too quickly, “Uh, everyone’s gone out to Eisley, and I was just going to take a shower. Do you want me to make some breakfast? Or caff?”   
“We’re alone then?”   
“Yeah.”   
“And you were about to shower?”   
“Yeah?”   
“You’re not subtle.” he chuckled. Sana frowned, opening her mouth to say something when he pointed to her legs, “Your thighs are twitching. You were gonna fuck yourself on your fingers, weren’t you?”   
Sana’s cheeks burned, she forgot how crude he could be about these things, “I-”   
“Come here.”

Boba beckoned her over with a crook of his fingers, eyes never leaving hers as she approached the bed. He reached out, taking her chin in his hand and pulling her towards him so she was forced to crawl up the bed to him. One of her legs was guided over, so she could straddle him, her hips twitched into him on instinct.    
“We shouldn’t, you need to rest-”   
Boba shushed her with a smirk, brushing his lips against hers, “Let me take care of you.”   
“No, you’re healing, I’ll hurt-”   
“What have I said about this already, San?” his palm rested against her cheek, looking deep into her eyes before his own flickered.   
Before she could ask, Boba guided her hands to rest on his body, one on the back of his neck, the other sliding past the collar of his shirt to hold against his bare shoulder, “Any pain or discomfort I feel, you will know, and I’ll stop then. Alright?”   
Sana couldn’t think clearly. Too tantalizingly close to a release she had craved for months, her lips slotted against his. He bit down on her lip, and she gasped, opening her mouth for him to slip in. His tongue flicked out, licking against her between the messy pants for breath. Sana couldn’t help but moan into him, the bubbling heat between her legs growing searing.    
Fuck, it felt good. 

His hands squeezed her thighs, before letting one slip up to rest on the small of her back, his other trailing in-between their bodies, snaking past the waistband of her underwear. Sana nearly jumped when his fingers delved in, swiping up her slit, “Fuck you’re wet.”   
She could only nod, rolling her hips against his fingers as pitiful gasps and moans escaped her. Boba swallowed each one, smiling against her mouth as he started slow circles on her clit, “Poor thing, all worked up and just wanting to cum.”   
Sana’s head fell onto his shoulder, held down by her waist as the sharp sensation of his rough fingertips on her clit made her whole body sing.    
“Want to fuck yourself on my fingers? We both know they reach that sensitive little point a lot easier than yours.”

His voice was pure sin against the shell of her ear, and Sana managed to squeak out a small ‘please’. Boba chuckled, one finger slipping into her as she whined into his shoulder. She clenched around him, hands scrabbling against his arms, “Boba, more, more pleasepleaseplea-”   
“Such a needy little thing.” he sighed, pushing up another thick finger.    
The slight stretch stung, and she clenched around him, Boba hissed against her ear and slowly began scissoring his fingers against her walls as he dragged up and down, determined to stretch her out. Sana whimpered, her body on fire, feeling herself drip down his hands from the continuous stretch and drag.    
“Fuck you feel incredible,” he groaned, fingers slipping out to drag up and toy with her clit, pinching it until she nearly cried into his shoulder, “Can’t wait until I can stuff you, fill you up with my cum again, hmm?”   
She could only moan in response, as he pushed his fingers back into her, this time curling them up and pressing into that sensitive point until she was fully sobbing into his shoulder.    
“Look up at me. Want to see you.”   
Sana managed to pull her head up, bleary eyed and a mess. Boba grinned, a familiar glint in his eyes, as he pressed a kiss to her forehead, “Good girl, now, fuck yourself on my fingers.”   
She experimentally rolled her hips, body buzzing from the combined pressure of him pressing his fingers inside her, and on her clit. A broken whimper escaped her lips as she rolled again, and again, picking up the pace.    
“Good girl,” he repeated, twitching his fingers to drag up and down against that sensitive part again. 

She choked on air, her stomach winding up in knots, it was too much in too little time after none for too long. She felt like she was going to burst but she couldn’t stop, gasping desperately as it became too much.   
“You’re clenching my fingers so tightly, Cyar’ika,” he pulled her into an open mouth kiss, “I’ve got you, cum for me.”   
Her whole body seized, and shuddered, white hot lightning flowing through her veins as she dropped her head, silently screamed into his shoulder. He moved his thumb off her clit, stroking her walls as they convulsed around his fingers, spilling into the palm of his hand. Boba leaned his head against hers, free hand trailing up against her shivering spine as she slowly came down,   
“Feeling better?”   
She nodded, still unable to form words, and a low rumble of laughter filled his chest, “Cockdumb on me, Cyar’ika?”

She mockingly swatted his shoulder which made his warm chuckle grow. His hand ran over her shoulder and pulled the chain of her necklace up past the collar of her nightshirt. He silently studied it, his thumb swiping over the grooves, “You kept it.”   
“Of course.” Sana managed as she pulled back, and looked at his face, his expression somewhere close to happiness. She let her hands drift up to his face, her knuckles running from the crinkling corners of his eyes, and up his temples. Her nose bumped into his, a small kiss landing just above his lips. He snapped his eyes away from the necklace, warm eyes engulfing her like a blanket as he smirked, “Sense any pain or discomfort from me in the end?”   
She tipped her head down to give him a small kiss, whispering against his mouth,

“I know your hand is cramping, ahuv.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're finally starting to see changes come in.  
> Thank you all so much for your support so far! And I hope you enjoyed!

**Author's Note:**

> If I've calculated correctly Anya is 20 by now (5ABY)   
> At least to my original calculations I think I messed up my timeline in my previous instalment (hence why I'm going to take my time with this one 😅.  
> Anyway, I'll update soonish? And hope you enjoyed.   
> au revoir!


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